Why Couples love a Pre Wedding Shoot!

Traditionally in India, the couple-shoots were done in the studio. The photographer would shoot formal portraits of the bride and groom sitting on a ornate sofa looking into the camera or shyly at each other with a red carnation in their hands.

Today couples hunt for interesting locations within their city or if their budget permits they travel to exotic locations. Though the location is a set up, the emotions are genuine, unlike the staid nervous ones in the studio. The couples spontaneously do a variety of things for the camera from kissing each other without being self-conscious to cavorting on the streets to the amusement of onlookers.

Because of its intrinsically fun element, many couples are beginning to attach more importance to the couple-shoot than their actual wedding photography. The shoot is virtually their last date as unmarried couple and the photos are immensely important. It’s always a good idea to have a couple shoot before the wedding – ideally a week or so in advance. That time the couple is looking forward to their wedding and the excitement shows in the photos. After the wedding, the couple is wedding weary and the shoot becomes just another in line of wedding rituals to be done with.

I shot a Wedding in Dubai in 2012 where the couple-shoot was the highlight. I suggested a boat ride in the Dubai Creek. Today you take the boat to cross the creek between Bur Dubai and Deira but long time ago the Creek served as an important port for dhows coming in from East Africa and India for trade. To do a shoot on this ancient trade route was to revisit history. We hired a boat and asked the boatman to take us up and down the creek. The boatman was accustomed to seeing movies being shot on the creek and knew exactly how to pose unselfconsciously in the background.

The couple had not gone down the creek themselves and it turned out a fun outing for them.

Because of its intrinsically fun element, many couples are beginning to attach more importance to the couple- shoot than their actual wedding photography. The shoot is virtually their last date as unmarried couple and the photos are immensely important. It’s always a good idea to have a couple shoot before the wedding – ideally a week or so in advance. That time the couple is looking forward to their wedding and the excitement shows in the photos. After the wedding, the couple is wedding weary and the shoot becomes just another in line of wedding rituals to be done with.

The couple-shoot presents the photographer a great opportunity to get some splendid photos in a great locations. I have shot couples in various locations around the world and for me what makes a great couple-shoot is the way the background is used in the photograph. However in most cases the couples are happy with just their close-ups and won’t bother about the location in the frame even if they have paid a fortune to get there. The challenge for the photographer is to balance the expectations of the client and his own creative instincts.

By Wedlocks India

We travel for Weddings. And at Wedlocksindia we have travelled across the world to photograph some of the most exotic and exclusive weddings including an African Wedding in Tanzania, Destination Weddings in Dubai and Traditional Gujarati Wedding in Chicago,US. We have travelled across India to document destination weddings from Kashmir to Goa and from Udaipur to Guwahati. We specialize in destination weddings but welcome weddings that promise a unique cultural, geographical experience anywhere in the Indian sub-continent and anywhere in the world. myShaadi.in profile